lead-forensics

Instagram audience: Turn them into customers

Did you know that your followers on Instagram are a goldmine for potential sales? But posting photos with a few filters is not enough to do the job. Turning your Instagram followers into buyers needs more than just a bunch of pretty images; it demands some marketing strategies to engage your followers and attract potential customers. Here are some ways you can make it happen.

Ensure your posts are shoppable

This simply means providing a convenient path where your followers can buy the products posted on your page. With the right Instagram tool, you can direct users to your online shop where they can make an actual purchase. Instagram is, arguably, not the best eCommerce platform to use if you depend on clickable media, but if you know how to tweak the app to your advantage — and provide an attractive presentation of your products — you can turn likes into sales.

Give away discount codes or coupons

Encourage followers to engage with you and share content with incentives such as discount codes or coupons. You can do this by running contests with an interesting concept, cool prizes, and a sharing or voting element that encourages participants to share your content with their friends. Better yet, engage followers with user-generated content via photo contests, resulting in free promotion for your brand.

Come up with a strong call to action (CTA)

Instagram doesn’t exactly have the most mobile-friendly CTAs, but don’t let this prevent you from sending followers to your sales page. Whether it’s telling them to go to the link on your bio or simply incorporating a shoppable Instagram feature on your page, specific instructions on how to buy or learn more about your product can spell the difference between making a sale and being ignored.

Post frequently and make the most of all available tools

Post photos using stylish filters, create snappy and quirky videos, or let your followers take a friendly behind-the-scenes peek at your organization using the Stories feature. Come up with a catchy and relatable caption that encourages participation and engages your core audience. Also important: always use hashtags on your posts. Any business Instagrammer worth his or her salt knows that a simple hashtag can pave the way for other users to reach your content and, ultimately, buy your product.

Repost content from brands in your niche

There may be instances when you won’t need to create your own Instagram content (especially if you lack the time to produce your own). Other accounts may already be successful in their efforts to engage your target audience, and there’s nothing wrong with reposting content from similar brands as part of your strategy to earn exposure for your account, as long as you ask permission and give credit where it’s due.

Search for brands in Instagram that inspire you and your target audience but are not direct competitors. You can use hashtags to help narrow the search and display the most relevant accounts. Follow these brands, and save any share-worthy posts in a collection with the bookmark icon.

When you find an Instagram post that is worth sharing, either comment on the post or send a private message to the account, and mention that you like the content and you think your followers will enjoy it too. Ask for permission to share the post on your feed, and assure the owner you’ll give them proper credit.

With some creativity, visual flair, and a well-defined strategy, these tips can help transform your Instagram feed into an attractive online sales generator. If you need further advice on how you can make the most of your social media presence, contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
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Adam

Help Desk

Adam was in the Navy before he joined our team in 2015. He is cool under pressure and a calming influence on the help desk. Perhaps this is because, after staring down Somali pirates off the coast of Africa, printer and email problems don’t seem so intimidating! Adam likes to shoot things (not people – thought we should make that clear), play Xbox, and of course, shoot things on Xbox! A husband of fourteen years with two children, he has been all over the world and still calls Central Texas his home. His teammates say, “Adam has an incredible memory when it comes to our clients. He remembers names, Internet settings, applications and printers!”
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Tyler

Projects Team Lead
Tyler cut his technological teeth through four years both in part-time work and in working with one of our telephony partners. Tyler loves working and learning, and has built a larger network at his home than 90% of our clients have in their businesses! He is thoughtful with his own money, preferring to buy a home and drive an old truck rather than pay rent and car payments. His hobbies of woodworking and gardening dovetail nicely with home ownership! He’s been known to play a bit of electric guitar, he enjoys 3D modeling and printing, and drives a gray Mustang GT that he’s modded as completely as his computers! Several of our team were in the wedding party when he got married!
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Aaron Johnstone

Help Desk Manager
With more patience than Job and more experience than most people in IT today, Aaron is the go-to guy for challenging problems. He directs our team both in the maintenance and help-desk functions. Aaron has been in IT for over twenty years and has played nearly every role possible EXCEPT, he reminds us, Sales. We can test almost every system in our client base on Aaron’s home network because it’s extensive and complex. When he isn’t tinkering with computers, he loves to read, play video games with his kids, and run. Aaron’s been married to his wife for twenty-one years and they have two daughters and a son. His teammates say, “I can always count on him to have my back. If I can’t find the answer, Aaron knows where to look!”
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Eli Meier

COO | CTO
Eli is our jack-of-all-trades. His degree is in English, and he intended to teach before he discovered a natural aptitude for computers. He combines the two in his role at Lighthouse, as he has a unique ability to explain complex technology in relatable, understandable conversation. Over more than twenty years working in IT, he’s written e-commerce programs for a university, set up an email cluster for a major league baseball team, and managed/executed hundreds of IT projects. He enjoys classic Volkswagens, cooking and barbeque, and hiking and camping. He and his wife have been married twenty-one years and have nine kids. Though he is 6’1”, he is the SHORTEST male in his entire extended family. We all feel badly for him.
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Ray Wilson

Chief Executive Officer
Ray is our CEO and he is passionate about helping businesses – both ours and our clients’ – succeed. Except for Skip, he’s probably been involved with IT longer than anyone – he was troubleshooting computers and repairing them at his school when he was seven! As an intern while attending UMHB, he was involved with IT, but really started growing when he joined our team in 2005. When he transitioned most of our clients to managed services, our MSP business was truly born, and we then grew it from five to forty people between 2006 and 2016. In that time, he was a help desk tech, business processes consultant, account manager, salesperson, sales engineer, client services manager, sales manager, and COO. If you want to get his juices flowing, challenge him to any team sport or ask him to go snow skiing. He’s been married to his high school sweetheart fourteen years and they have three high-energy boys. Oh… and both of his parents are also small business entrepreneurs.

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